Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Can you give us a brief
overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?

UNFORGIVING is a contemporary YAstory (first in trilogy), inspired by that little boy who was killed by
the Serbs soldiers; in real life he died, but in my book he managed to escape
and survive in that forest for many years. Later, he was found by an American
diplomat who adopted him and brought him to the United States. For years he
struggled to adopt to a civilized life, and after finally learning to control
his rage, he sees a monster who murdered his family. And that’s how the book
begins: in the first chapter the boy ruthlessly murders those people.

Do you have a favorite
character?

Besides Meho, Bucky in UNFORGIVING is my favorite character.
He is tiny, smart motor-mouth who believes he can do anything. He lives in his
own world, the world where good guys always win, and if you're his friend,
he'll do anything for you. He'll lie for you, cheat for you, steal for you, and
he'll always find a rational justification for everything.

But if you're his enemy, or enemy of his friend, he'll hate you with
blood-spilling rage.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish your book(s)?

I queried about 50 agents and all of them said no. So if I couldn't
get traditionally published, there's always another way. And with today's
technology, it's easy to get self-published. The downside to that is, since
anyone could get published, there's a lot of crap out there.

What is your writing process?
Do you listen to music or do you like silence?

I like to snap my headphones on, grab a pen and notebook and just
write. That is one way to escape this place. I aim for one page a day, but when
inspiration strikes, I don't stop until everything is spilled onto the paper.

Do you outline your story or
just go where your muse takes you?

I never outline. My outline is the first draft. If I get an idea for
a specific scene, I would scribble it down in my notebook, and then during the
rewrite I would insert it at the appropriate place. Sometimes there would be
many scenes, and second rewrite would seem like aranging a giant puzzle.

What have you’ve learned
during your self-publishing journey?

Self-publishing is a wild ride. If you don't have money or
resources, you gotta do everything yourself. After finishing your job as a
writer, you gotta switch hats and become editor, designer, publicist, marketer,
and many other things.

What kinds of marketing
[twitter, facebook, blog, forums] are you involved with for promoting your
book(s)?

I have about 10,000 followers on Facebook, so I use it as my main
platform. I also have a Twitter account, but I dont use it as much as Facebook.
Before publication, I'll be using a book tour with Xpresso Book Tours and
actively seeking reviews.

Do you find it difficult to
juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next
book?

There are only so many hours in a day, and when you're doing
everything yourself, something's gotta give. When I'm actively marketing my
book, I gotta admit that I'm neglecting my writing. At least the physical part.
I believe as a writer you are always writing, because those characters are in
your head and you're always thinking, 'What would he say? What would he do? How
would he act?'

Publicizing your book is a tough act, and I see why many authors
don't like it. You gotta be actively involved with the public, shouting,
selling, and promoting your book. And since many of the authors are introverts,
it's a tough job for them.

What advice would you give a
new author just entering into the self-publishing arena?

Persistence is the key. Read and write. Never quit. Read biographies
from famous authors and you'll see what kind of game this is. Steven King's
Carrie was rejected 30 times. If he stopped submitting, we would never know who
he was.

What’s next for you?

I am currently finishing MEHO, a second part of UNFORGIVING. It is
quite unique because it's written from a perspective of a five-year-old Meho.
My plan is to publish it before the end of 2017, and the last part by the end
of 2018.

12 years after surviving horrific massacre, 15-year- old Meho commits ruthless murders and sets in motion the event which could change the world order.The murders are followed by the trial of the century, where media vilifies Meho as a psychopath, mass murderer, and a monster — all under the influence of FBI, who are trying to conceal the identity of the victims and protect the National Security.The only person who believes that Meho is innocent is his 10-year-old brother Bucky, who will turn heavens and earth to free Meho. After learning the truth, Bucky is devastated, but not all things are as they seem, and the truth will be revealed at the very end.

Author Bio:After witnessing terrible war atrocities, Adnan Alisić escaped from Bosnia and came to Phoenix, Arizona where he became a successful businessman. Entangled in a gambling addiction, he was forced to execute this sensational casino heist. He can be reached at Alisic.adnan6@gmail.com or www.AlisicAdnan.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Can you give us a brief overview of your
latest book? Is it part of a series?

Caught on Camera, Hollywood in Muskoka series, Book
1, is a New Adult romantic comedy. Rachel (22), a chambermaid at a Canadian luxury
resort, is asked to stand in for a missing bridesmaid at an A-list actor’s private
wedding. Rachel falls in love with a groomsman, Mickey, who thinks she’s the
bride’s cousin. Their path to love is as rocky as the beautiful Muskoka lake
district—playground of the rich and famous. Many Hollywood celebrities own beautiful
summer homes in Muskoka for the privacy far from the paparazzi. Goldie Hawn
used to own a multi-million dollar Muskoka lakefront property.

Subsequent books in the series follow the
same upstairs/downstairs trope—local people in the service industry fall for vacationers
who make Hollywood movies; e.g., a screenwriter, producer, director, stunt
professional, and more. Research into the various careers in the industry is
fun because I absolutely love movies and am fascinated by filmmaking. I also
studied screenwriting and writing romantic comedy with the goal of writing
fast-paced stories that are full of heart and humor. I figured that I may as
well write a series with the elements required for a movie or a six-episode TV
series!

Have you ever had a minor character evolve
into a major one? Did that change the direction of the novel at all?

I actually wrote the second book in the
series, Sex and the Screenwriter, first. The heroine is Catrina, a security
guard who falls for a visiting Hollywood screenwriter. Then I went to an RWA
conference and all the advice was to write a series to maximize sales. So I
returned home and Catrina became a secondary character in Caught on Camera, now
the first book in the series, along with members of the wedding party who will
each have their own story.

Did you try the traditional route to
publishing; i.e., querying agents/publishers?

Prior to the digital revolution, responses
from traditional publishers took forever. I waited over a year for a “no thanks”
response from Harlequin. In contrast, I received relatively speedy responses
from an editor at Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc., who offered to publish the
second manuscript I submitted—Diamond Lust, a romantic suspense—under its
former Cerridwen Press imprint. Digital-first presses such as EC opened the
door to many new authors who would otherwise have waited years to be traditionally-published,
if ever. Eventually I got the rights back, changed the cover, and
indie-published it as Diamond Hunter in 2015.

What factors influenced your decision to
self-publish your book(s)?

I decided to go indie for several reasons:
I’m not getting any younger, I would need to put a lot of time and money into
promo either route, bookstores are closing so there is limited shelf space for
print books of debut authors anyway, and the prices charged by some traditional
publishers for ebooks are extraordinarily high, in my view. I wanted to be able
to set my own prices. The biggest reason: a traditional publisher would not
accommodate my playlist/soundtrack approach. Embedded in each ebook are links
to YouTube videos or iTunes songs (iBook version). Paperback readers can access
my YouTube playlist from my website.

What is your writing process? Do you
listen to music or do you like silence?

I need to focus when writing, so playtime
for me is seeking out a video/song on YouTube that matches the emotion I’m
going for at that point in the story. A musical note together with the song
title within the chapter indicates when to listen to each song on the playlist.

Caught on Camera’s overarching theme song
is Michael Bublé’s Hollywood.
It reflects the book’s upbeat, fun energy and lyrics that describe how you can
become anything you want to be! “You can find it in yourself.” Check out the
full playlist on my website.

Do you outline your story or just go where
your muse takes you?

I’m a plotter. For me it’s necessary
because storylines of each book in the series have to tie together. Bridesmaid
and actor Tiffany’s story threads through each book until she gets her own happy-ever-after
at the end of the series.

Did you hire an editor to review your
manuscript before publishing?

I learned so much from my Ellora’s Cave
editor, and that experience convinced me of the value of working with
professional editors. My developmental editor (a screenwriter) and copy editor
are fiction authors as well. I shared Caught on Camera’s editing journey in Editing your Book blog posts.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites
where your books are for sale?

Caught on Camera ebooks are promo-priced
at 99 cents on Amazon | iBooks | Kobo. The print version is
available on Amazon.

What advice would you give a new author
just entering into the self-publishing arena?

The first book is for practice. Don’t
indie-publish your first novel. I know it’s tempting and so easy to do, but few
writers have the craft knowledge on their first attempt. Your second and third
books will be so much better. Diamond Hunter was my fourth full-length novel.
The first three were learning experiences, although I thought they were
absolutely wonderful at the time, and even had contest win validation for the
third. Don’t publish until a professional editor or a multi-published author in
your genre with 4 and 5 star reviews says your book is ready for the world.
Poor reviews can be devastating to sales and haunt indie-authors for decades.

What’s next for you?

Sex and the Screenwriter, Hollywood in
Muskoka series, Book 2, a hot contemporary romance, will be published in 2017. When
Hollywood screenwriter Chett de Groot invites Catrina to rehearse role-playing love
scenes in costumes from old movies, she discovers how satisfying acting
can be. Soon she’s ad-libbing passionate lines in scorching “performances”. But
when Chett exploits her secret, Catrina realizes the emotional pain from her
past is nothing compared to the agony of betrayal.

To achieve her dream of working on Hollywood film sets, star struck chambermaid Rachel Lehmann needs $35,000 for film school tuition by the end of the summer. When she’s asked to fill in for a missing bridesmaid at a movie star’s wedding, it’s her big chance to take candid photos of celebrities and sell them to the entertainment media. Then groomsman Mickey McNichol, agent to the stars, sweeps her off her feet.Mickey’s bitter experience is that everyone in show business fakes emotions. When he falls for the stand-in bridesmaid, he thinks he’s finally met a beautiful woman he can trust. But if Rachel betrays his friends’ privacy, Mickey will ensure she never works in Hollywood.

Author Bio:
Madelle completed four novels before Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc. contracted to publish her debut romantic suspense, Diamond Lust—republished as Diamond Hunter—and a sexy, short free read, The Next Big Thing, in 2010.
When Madelle realized her author voice is more suited to light, humorous contemporary romance, she went waaaay back to her teen years for the Hollywood in Muskoka series setting.

Madelle, her sisters, and assorted pets enjoyed idyllic summers at a lake in the District of Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, named by National Geographic Traveler magazine as one of their top 20 Best of the World Must-see Places.

The Muskoka lakes’ forested shorelines are dotted with palatial properties owned by wealthy families and Hollywood celebrities. At sixteen, being neither rich nor famous, Madelle worked briefly as a chambermaid at the now-closed Delawana Inn, a local resort.
Madelle is retired from an engineering career in the federal public service and lives in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, with her husband. She tries to keep fit with cycling, Pilates, and yoga, and dreams of owning a waterfront cottage. Or at least a pool.

She tweets and posts on Facebook and Goodreads about Hollywood, filmmaking, Muskoka, and, of course, writing. She blogs the second Tuesday of the month at romancingthegenres.blogspot.com and occasionally on her own website.

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Take time to be with your family and friends and let them know they are loved. Let's try to put aside whatever differences we have and try kindness instead. 2016 was a tumultuous year and here's hoping things will calm down so we can all enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving.

For all the service men and women who won't be home this year, I thank you all for your service. You serve so we can be protected and enjoy freedom. There is no greater sacrifice in my book. So, an extra big 'THANK YOU' to you.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

The asteroid hurtling toward the earth will kill billions.The Emperor and his Gold Court will be safe in their space station, watching from the stars. The Silvers will be protected underground. But the Bronzes must fight it out at the Shadow Trials for the few remaining spots left on the space station.

When an enigmatic benefactor hands Maia Graystone a spot in the Trials, she won’t just get a chance at salvation for her and her baby brother, Max: She gets to confront the mother who abandoned her in prison, the mad Emperor who murdered her father, and the Gold prince who once loved her. But it’s the dark bastard prince she’s partnered with that will make her question everything, including her own heart. With the asteroid racing closer every day, Maia must trust someone to survive.

You can get your copy now for the special release price of 99 cents, and be sure to meet us at the Facebook Party happening right now!

—

EXCERPT:

My legs wobble as I step into the now lukewarm water. I sink to the bottom. Tiny bubbles escape my nose as I watch all the ugly remnants from the last seven years leave my body.

Lungs burning, I rise and come face-to-face with Pit Boy.
I glare at him. “You really have to work on the knocking thing.”
Despite the fact that I’m indecent, his attention never falls from my face. I almost wish it would, just to give me a break from the intensity of his focus.
“I only get a few more hours to be the ‘one-eyed freak’ from the pit. Might as well take advantage.” He doesn’t dare crack a smile, so it’s hard to tell if he’s joking or serious.
“Don’t worry. In my heart, that’s exactly who you’ll always be.”
His words remind me that soon we’ll be reconstructed using forbidden nanotech. But it won’t just be our flesh they’ll reengineer. It will be our brains, too.
I don’t foresee my rewiring being too complicated, but Riser needs to upload almost twenty years of false memories. That will be tricky and time-consuming.
And time is the one thing we don’t have.
Riser flicks his gaze to the mirror. He lifts a hand, touches the patch of mottled flesh where his eye should be.
“How did it happen?” I ask.
“Careful, my lady.” His gaze settles on my face. “You’re beginning to sound like you care.”
I roll my eyes. “And I thought I was lacking in conversational skills.”
He focuses his attention on the graffiti sprayed across the mirror.
“It’s written language,” I blurt, even though all I want to do is end the conversation so Pit Boy can leave. His presence unnerves me more than the other Pit Leeches ever could. “It’s how we communicate.”
“I know what it is.” He examines his jagged thumbnail. “I just . . . can’t read it.”
“It’s just stuff about the Chosen. You know, insults.” The populace is finicky. As much as they love watching the Chosen with their petty intrigues and court life, they would be just as happy to see their heads on a pike.
“Chosen?”Time to explain what you are, Everly, Nicolai’s voice grates inside my head. Riser’s eyes flutter just enough that I know he’s heard Nicolai’s voice too.
You do it, I think, watching Riser’s reaction. But his face remains emotionless; either he’s a good actor or only Nicolai can hear my response.
“The Royalist astronomers discovered the asteroid twenty-one years ago,” I begin. “It’s actually a slow moving planet called an earth-crosser, meaning its orbit and ours intersect every twenty-thousand years. Usually it’s too far away to affect us, but this time it will pass close enough to wreak havoc and make the earth uninhabitable for years.” I stir the water with my big toe. “Before I was born, the Emperor decided that creating a population of genetically superior humans would be a great idea, you know, just in case the Caskets don’t work or the asteroid does more damage than predicted.”
Riser’s hyper-focused gaze bores through me. “You’re one of them?”
“Yes.” I run my hand through the filthy water. “But my father’s a Bronze, so even though my mother comes from a Gold House, the Emperor only allowed them one Chosen instead of the customary twins. So it’s just me . . . not Max.”
“What makes being Chosen so special?”
“I don’t know . . .” I bite my lip, trying to remember everything my parents told me. “My genes are perfect, I guess.”
For some reason, talking about my body makes me remember that I am naked in a room with a boy. As if reading my mind, Riser slowly lets his gaze fall, his expression both curious and unapologetic as he takes me all in, his thoughts cryptic.
“What are you staring at?” I blurt, smashing my breasts beneath my hands. Not like there’s much there to cover. “Haven’t you seen a naked girl before?”
A smile twitches his lips. “Not one that’s genetically flawless.”
“It doesn’t work that way! You can’t just look at us and tell. We look like everyone else—”
“No.” Riser shakes his head, a dark swath of hair covering his damaged eye. “You don’t. Whatever you are.”
“You must be happy . . . about our reconstruction, I mean,” I mumble, trying desperately to change the subject. “They’ll fix your eye . . . and . . . and all those horrible scars.”
I freeze as he slides off the counter, unable to look away as he hooks one finger beneath his shirt and lifts.
Scars ravage his anemic body in varying shades of red and silver and white. Some deep and pitted like the craters of a far-away planet, others smooth and neat. One particular nasty scar carves down his shoulder, tunneling across his chest and stomach. A fresh red wound nestles just below his throat.
He carefully touches the long ugly one. “I’m not ashamed for surviving.”

Author Bio:
Audrey Grey lives in the charming state of Oklahoma, with her husband, two little people, and four mischievous dogs. You can usually find her hiding out in her office from said little people and dogs, surrounded by books and sipping kombucha while dreaming up wondrous worlds for her characters to live in.

Monday, November 21, 2016

When I was a child, I’d daydream I was someone exciting like
a British spy:a James Bond type.
Always in peril. Always fighting villains. And always quick with the one-liners.
I guess it’s not a surprise that now I write urban fantasy with a thriller
edge. Except with vampires. And Light? He’s more leather jacket than black-tie.
More pint than vodka martini. And he definitely doesn’t need a license to kill.

What did
you do on your last birthday?

Had a wild party, danced all night and ate a huge chocolate
cake with candles. Did you spot the lie in the last sentence? OK…lies. Plural.
Three of them… I wrote. Like most days. But I did get cake. It wasn’t
chocolate. Inside I died a little.

I always say please feed me reviews because they’re better
than chocolate. See how much I love reading your reviews?

What part
of the writing process do you dread?

None of it. If I dreaded it, I couldn’t do it. If anyone
thinks this is the easy option, they don’t know what goes into it. I’m
passionate – all right – obsessed with
writing. I always have been. It tells the stories, which are rushing through my
mind, like…speeded up movies, which I need to get down. Before they’re lost. I
only write about what matters to me. I care about it. It’s from my…whatever it
is that wiggles inside us. Deep down.

In the first book in my new fantasy series Rebel Vampires - Blood Dragons - the idea was sparked by my autistic son, who has a
photographic memory. Light – the Blood Lifer in both books – has one too. I
wondered what it would be like to live through the centuries witnessing
glorious wonders and devastating horrors. And remembering everything with the
clarity of a photograph.

Rebel
Vampires is set in the supernatural world of Blood Life, where
vampires are both predator and prey. I love vampires. But I wanted to write a
vampire book for adults. Where they were not simply the hunters but also the
hunted. Vampires, rebels and romance. Don’t leave out the romance.

In this latest book – Blood
Shackles – the idea was sparked by freedom. Or the loss of it. Human
trafficking and slavery. But what would happen if it was the Blood Lifers, who
could be trafficked? Like Taken with
vampires.

I was also fascinated by the different types of freedom we
have. Mental, as well as physical. How we give it up when we’re in love – or
how love can free us.

Do you
ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

Touch wood – I’ve never suffered so far. My brain’s too
busy. If you’re authentic to who you are – and what you want to write – writer’s
block is less likely. Know yourself and all that. It’s not easy but you have to
stick to what you believe in. Write what you want to read. I love intelligent,
dark, subversive books. With antiheroes at their hearts. So that’s what I
write.

Tell us
about your latest release.

Blood Dragons (Rebel Vampires Volume 2) is the standalone second
book in my new fantasy series.

It
explores a hidden paranormal world in London, where vampires are both predator
and prey. It’s a story of redemption and love in a divided world beneath our
own. Blood Lifers are a camouflaged species, who use venom to paralyse and
mimic heart attacks in First Lifers (humans). Yet they fear the First Lifers
they prey on.

I
loved the idea of a novel, which was written from the vampire’s perspective in
the style of a slave journal.But
which also had a British vampire front and centre. The ultimate anti-hero. A
vampire book truly for adults.

What happens when SPARTACUS
meets VAMPIRES? Welcome to the Blood Club…

BLURB:

WELCOME
TO THE BLOOD CLUB

Light is
a Rocker Blood Lifer with a talent for remembering things. He’s meant to be the
predator. It’s been that way since Victorian times. But not now. Not since
someone hunted him. Enslaved him. Ripped out his fangs. Who are these ruthless
humans? Who’s their violent leader? And who betrayed the secret of the Blood
Lifer world?

WHERE THE
PREDATORS

London,
Primrose Hill. Grayse is the commanding but alluring slaver’s daughter. The
enemy. She buys Light, like he’s a pair of designer shoes. So why does Light
feel so drawn to her? Especially when his family is still in chains. Will he
risk everything – even his new love – to save them?

BECOME
THE PREY

Does a
chilling conspiracy lie behind it all? A stunning revelation leads Light to an
inconceivable truth. If he can face his worst terrors, he can save his family
and his whole species from slavery.

Maybe he
can even save himself.

The third
book in the series, BLOOD RENEGADES, will be out Spring 2017.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

ROSEMARY
A JOHNS is a traditionally published author of short stories under the name R.
A. Johns. She is the author of Blood Dragons the compelling first installment of
the Rebel Vampires series.

Rosemary
A Johns wrote her first fantasy novel at the age of ten, when she discovered
the weird worlds inside her head were more exciting than double swimming. Since
then she’s studied history at Oxford University, run a theatre company (her
critically acclaimed plays have been described as "uncomfortable,
unsettling and uneasily true to life"), and worked with disability
charities.

When
Rosemary’s not falling in love with the rebels fighting their way onto the
page, she heads the Oxford writing group Dreaming Spires

Friday, November 18, 2016

Lilian would never forget the first time she encountered Marcus Dunford.
He was naked and glistening with sweat and the most glorious thing she had ever
seen.

Not entirely naked. Had that been the case, she might have fainted dead
away and been discovered, no doubt from the thump that would have sounded when
she hit the marble floor.

If only her mother could live a few years longer, the girls would be
financially set. Their grandmother had settled quite a large sum of money aside
for her only grandchildren, but it would only be available to them after they
turned twenty-five, and that was seven long years away. Lilian would have
happily lived in Cornwall in their little manor house if only her mother would
live just a bit longer. But she would not. As much as Lilian tried to deny the
truth, it was difficult to ignore that Anne was withering away before her very
eyes and it wouldn’t be long before she was bedridden.

Which was why Lilian would say yes if the Duke of Weston proposed and
also why, when she saw him talking to another gentleman in the hall, she
quickly ducked into the nearest room and hid. Not very adult of her, but there
it was. And there she was when two strapping young men entered the room,
unbeknownst to Lilian, bragging about which one could do more push-ups.

Lilian had hidden herself behind the curtains of a bow window and was
quite obscured by bushes from anyone who might pass by outside and by the heavy
velvet curtain from anyone inside. What she hadn’t realized was how very warm
she would be in her little hothouse of a hiding place. She quickly became
drowsy, and fell asleep, only to be awakened by the low tones of two men, one
of whom was counting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

LADY LOST

Seek, and
love will find . . .

All
Marcus Granton wants is to be left alone to lick his wounds after the
humiliating scandal of his wife’s death in another man’s bed. Secluded in his
moldering seaside estate on the cliffs of the North Sea, he suddenly finds
himself host to Lady Lilian Martin, one small child, and an annoying cache of
servants all bent on ruining his solitude. Seems the lady got herself into a
bit of a pickle and is accused of murder, of all things. Now she must rely on
him for protection—and to keep his thoughts and hands away from her delectable
body.

Lilian
has no intention of spending any more time with the insufferable Lord Marcus
Granton than she has to. But at every turn, circumstances force her into his
company, and by the time she’s ready to make her escape, it's far too late for
her . . . and her heart.

Jane
Goodger lives in Rhode Island with her husband and three children. Jane, a
former journalist, has written seven historical romances. When she isn’t
writing, she’s reading, walking, playing with her kids, or anything else
completely unrelated to cleaning a house.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

His golden eyes flicked open, blinked, and narrowed to a
squint as he finally lifted up his great, horned head. He shrugged the veil of
wings. He uncoiled from his most precious gem and lumbered upward, following
the airborne trail up through the high tunnel to the opening just beside the
cataract.

Only his muzzle appeared at first, shining like tar in the
slanting sunlight, but even that merest of appearances stirred notice among the
hovering hawks and vultures: Look. Be warned and wary. The master had awakened.

His head slid further out, taking in the day. The clouds had
lifted. The sky was polished glass, but the familiar whisper was still there,
coming from below. Down on the near shore of the inlet was a scuttled boat.
Again his eyes narrowed, trying to figure from the tides just how long ago the
wreck had occurred, and whether its victims were still on premise. He hoped
not. Men had their place, but it wasn’t here.

He crawled further out onto the ledge and extended his neck
toward the curtain of water, which was fuller today than usual, gushing down
from the mountains after all that rain. He helped himself to several gulps. He
let the bracing cold beat on his head a while, then shook free with a
glistening, majestic explosion, lifted his wings and leapt. He glided most of
the way down, turning three wide circles in the crux of the fjord, his great
spanned shadow dashing along the cliff-side, flicking across the cataract, then
across the blue surface below, around and up and around again three times
before finally re-meeting him, claw to claw, on the strand beside the boat...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

…Here again, his natural figure
crouched beside her in the dank darkness of the cave, watching her in silence
as she slept, struggling with cravings which were new to him, both tender and
violent, and which he could only really compare to hunger… (from ASMODEUS)

On the cusp of the Great War, an
even more pitched battle is waged in the furthest corner of the Nordic highlands,
the final chapter of a centuries-old rivalry, pitting a troubled bloodline of
thieves, journeyman, and politicians against the last and greatest dragon of
the hemisphere, Asmodeus.

Until now, the source of this
antagonism has been a single gemstone, the fabled shamir, whose history traces
to the coffers of King Solomon. The present clash, however, has been sparked by
the emergence of an even more desirable, more defiant, and more powerful force
than that.

Inspired by the golden legend of St.
Margaret, Brooks Hansen’s Asmodeus is a masterfully woven tapestry of history,
myth, and fantasy, in the tradition of J.R.R.Tolkien, Bram Stoker, and C.S.
Lewis. By turns a romance, an adventure, and the darkest imaginable Gothic, his
tale is also, as seen through the eyes of the maiden Margrét, an unflinching
exploration of our divided nature — what makes us beasts, what makes us human,
and what makes us divine.

BROOKS HANSEN is an author, screenwriter, essayist,
and teacher. His novels – THE MONSTERS OF ST. HELENA, PERLMAN’S ORDEAL, THE
CHESS GARDEN, and BOONE (co-authored with Nick Davis) were all New York Times
Notable Books. THE CHESS GARDEN was also selected as a PW Best Book of the Year
in 1995. He has written one book for Young Readers, CAESAR’S ANTLERS, which he
also illustrated. In 2009 he released his first memoir, THE BROTHERHOOD OF
JOSEPH, and in 2005 he received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for his most
recent book, JOHN THE BAPTIZER, which was published in 2009 by W.W. Norton.
More recently, his fiction appeared in CENTRAL PARK: AN ANTHOLOGY (Bloomsbury
USA, 2012), and he has an essay slated to appear in another upcoming anthology
THE GOOD BOOK (Simon & Schuster, 2015).

Brooks Hansen is the critically acclaimed author of
The Chess Garden and 7 other books, most recently Asmodeus: The Legend of
Margret and the Dragon. He has recently launched his own imprint, Star Pine
Books. He lives in Carpinteria, California with his wife and children.

FOLLOW ME ON BOOKBUB

My Romance Facebook Page

LIKE me on Facebook

Two Ends of the Pen Happens When a Great Author Blogs by Chipper Editor

Another great review of the blog! Click image for article.

Voted #2 Best Book Blog of 2017 by Reedsy

Two Ends of the Pen Logo

Designed by Claire Monaghan, BLACK FOX DESIGNS at https://www.facebook.com/blackfoxbookstop

Book Review Status

CLOSED FOR SUBMISSIONS: I have an overwhelming TBR pile at the moment and am NOT accepting any new books for review. The books reviewed on this site are either digital copies or ARCs sent by publishers or authors. I never accept payment in exchange for a review.

NetGalley Top Reviewer

Total Pageviews

GUEST POSTS ARE WELCOME!

If you are interested in contributing a guest post for Two Ends of the Pen, please send me an email at:dlmartin6 AT yahoo DOT com.

Your article/post needs to have some relevance to writing, books, ebooks, epublishing, tips for blogging, marketing strategies, etc. You get the idea--really, anything to do with books and being an author in general. I've also highlighted a number of guest posts in the sidebar to help you understand what I'm looking for in a post.

I look forward to sharing your posts with my readership.

Requesting an Author Interview

If you would like to request an author interview, please send an email to dlmartin6 AT yahoo.com and let me know if you are strictly an indie author or an indie/traditionally published author. This way I can send you interview questions to suit your book(s). All the questions are just suggestions, you may add/change/delete any of them.

Put "Requesting Author Interview" in the email subject line. Interviews are posted on a first-come first-serve basis and will be posted ASAP depending on the backlog of other posts for the blog. In addition to your interview spotlight page, you will also be added to the list of Author Interviews page.

Please do NOT ask me to review your book in your author interview request. I am CLOSED to review submissions.

Contact Me

If you would like to contact Deb directly, please send a message to:dlmartin6 [at] yahoo [dot] com.